Saturday, March 30, 2013

In his acceptance address for the Nobel prize in literature, Alexander Solzhenitsyn cited a Russian proverb: “One word of truth outweighs the whole world.” He also quoted Dostoyevsky: “Beauty will save the world.”

If one word of truth outweighs the whole world, the world must be very false. But this truth is unpalatable, given the extent of beauty in this world. So much is this so that we cling to the beauty of the world, even when we are told the simple yet profound truth that it will not endure. How then will beauty save us, when attachment to it seems to be the cause of samsara, suffering in rounds of repeated birth and death?

Harmony, how the
things of opposite types can be harmonized by higher principles.

To harmonize things of
a particular plane, energy of the higher plane is necessary.Thesis, antithesis — synthesis!
Anything — and there must be something anti that. This cannot but be.
Some opposition, some opposite conception. Any statement, some
opposition, and to harmonize that. Hegel says that this is the process of
progress.Progress means this.Whatever there would be — some opposite
conception, some opposition, possibility. The possibility of opposition.
And then, to do away with the opposition some greater harmony is necessary.The highest type of harmony is so. The
diversity ultimately helps it.

Friday, March 22, 2013

How do we develop that attraction for Krsna? We get it from the devotee. Superficially we can obtain it from the scripture, but substantially only from the devotee.

Within their heart, within their endeavor, pervading through all their activities, there is a particular attraction and that is a divine thing. We want that. It is the subtlest of the subtle, the nerve structure within. It can move the body. It can help the body to function. We are attracted to the inner energy in the devotee, which makes him do that which we do not find in this world: no attraction for sense pleasure, no attraction for fame, name, or money.

Something else is there: attraction for Krsna. We must follow His guidance. "One who comes to serve Me directly, he is not really My devotee. But one who is devoted to My devotee is My real devotee." (Adi Purana) What is the meaning? Vaisnava-seva, guru-seva, nama-seva; service to the devotees, the spiritual master, and the Holy Name. "His love for Me is so intense that wherever he finds any external connection with Me, he engages himself fully there."

Sunday, March 17, 2013

In this lecture, given in Hamburg on Janmastami 1969, Srila Prabhupada stresses how important it is to use our senses to serve Krishna / God / The Supreme Person, in order to be able to understand anything about Him.

This touches the essence of Krishna Consciousness: Nothing is to be renounced. It is not yours to renounce — everything belongs to Krishna. Instead, everything is to be used, but in the service of Krishna. Everything. The senses too, all of them: the senses of perception, and the working senses. Here Srila Prabhupada talks about the tounge, the most difficult one to control.

He starts the lecture with a quote from the Vishnu Purana,describing the situation of the living entities in the material world.

Friday, March 15, 2013

This transcendental vibration — the chanting of Hare Krsna Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna Hare Hare | Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama Hare Hare— is the sublime method for reviving our Krsna consciousness [God consciousness]. As living spirit souls we are all originally Krsna conscious entities, but due to our association with matter since time immemorial, our consciousness is now polluted by the material atmosphere. In this polluted concept of life, we are all trying to exploit the resources of material nature, but actually we are becoming more and more entangled in our complexities. This illusion is called maya, or hard struggle for existence over the stringent laws of material nature. This illusory struggle against the material nature can at once be stopped by revival of our Krsna consciousness.

Thursday, March 14, 2013

We are happy to present to you this album, AVATAR, which is an extraordinary project initiated by Srila B.A. Paramadvaiti, that Manah-Siksa Devi Dasi and Mick Arrow have been working on during the last four years. Twelve Avataras, twelve dramas, presented in fifteen pieces.

The duo Flower Power (Manah-Siksa Devi Dasi [Maria Kimdal] and Mick Arrow) was specially formed for the AVATAR production. Compositions, arrangements and performances are all made by the two of them. Recorded, mixed, mastered and produced by Mick Arrow.

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Dear devotees, receive all my affection from Jahnavi Kunja Gaudiya Math, on the banks of the Ganges, watching the sunset.

Today's message is about learning to appreciate what we have received and recognize who is behind it all. Srila Prabhupada opened the doors of this house, Krishna Consciousness, to enlighten everyone. It is impressive, as today we are gathered from all over to sing, dance, and honor prasadam. No one, by no means, has been able to deny the place of appearance of Sri Caitanya where we are today, we can even say that it has come to public attention that Sri Caitanya was here over 500 years ago, bringing a very important message to spread to all the world.

"Krishna
Consciousness is the eternal consciousness of the soul. It is not
limited by race, colour, or a particular society. Krishna Consciousness
is universal, and those who understand this are indeed fortunate."

Friday, March 8, 2013

Learn to give yourself. Learn to die a so-called death; embrace it at every second. In this political and social world everything is at the cost of life. In every duty, at every step, they are ready to give up their lives for that “do or die” conception. One who accepts such a principle of life is sure to progress. And this progress will be very, very intense. “Do or die” – you are to live with such an attitude. At every point, you are ready to do anything at the cost of your life. You will be a great success if you serve with this spirit at heart. When you are approaching that special spiritual substance, that high spiritual life, you are to invite death at every point of your life. The most intense desire you can have is to desire to “do or die” at every point in your life. The guarantee is, “I shall attain that or I shall die”.

You are to approach the Divine Sound, the Holy Name, with this spirit of self-giving. “No giving, no getting; no risk, no gain.” If you want to give with such intensity of nature, then you will be adored as a candidate, a bona fide candidate, of that spiritual world. So self-giving is necessary. Service means self-giving, self-dedication. That should be our attitude in approaching the higher plane. In this way, all the coatings of the material ego will vanish one by one, and the genuine substance from within will come out and select its own soil. “This is my home, this is my sweet home.”

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

This sunday we honour Lord Shiva, Gopīśvara Mahādeva — the foremost Vaishnava, gatekeeper of Vrindavan, and helper of Krishna-devotees. We will sing the Shiva-mantra, read about Him, and sing some more.

There will be no prasadam served since we observe fasting for Lord Shiva to get His blessings on the path of devotion, but if you are here on the saturday satsang, you too will make it fasting for Him.

Bring flowers and fruits to offer to Lord Shiva and come sing with us and hear about Him.

[O Shiva, O gatekeeper of Vrindavan! O you who are accompanied by Uma! O you who carry the moon in your hair! O lord worshiped by Sananda Kumara, Sanat Kumara and Narada Muni! O Gopisvara, the worshipable deity of the gopis! Desiring that you bestow upon me love for the divine couple, Sri Sri Radha Madhava, who perform joyous pastimes in Vraja, I offer my obeisances unto you again and again.]

Nimaihuset's Siddhanta das and Prema Dhama devi dasi recently had a little son, named Ave. We congratulate Ave for getting devotee parents and being raised in Krishna consciousness, and the parents for getting some steady, long-term, hi-quality service.

Sunday, March 3, 2013

"Just as from one candle another candle may be lit" (Srila Sridhar Maharaj and disciple)

Waking from the dream

We find this verse in Srimad Bhagavatam:

avismrtih krsna-padaravindayoh

ksinoty abhadrani ca sam tanoti

sattvasya-suddhim paramatma-bhaktim

jnanam ca vijnana-viraga-yuktam

(SB 12:12:55)

["For one who remembers the lotus feet of Krishna, all inauspiciousness soon disappears, and one's good fortune expands. In other words, one becomes free from all material contamination, one attains liberation from repeated birth and death, and one's real spiritual life begins. As one's heart becomes gradually purified, one's devotion for the Lord within the heart awakens, and one realizes the Paramatma. Thus one gradually develops knowledge (jnana), realization (vijnana), and renunciation (vairagya)."]

Who are we?

Nimaihuset is a small and cozy Gaudiya-Vaishnava temple in Gothenburg, started by Swami B.A. Paramadvaiti. We, his disciples, help him with his projects (see below).

By the way, we are vegetarians, and we don't want to be too pushy about it but it really is a very good idea... For yourself, for the animals, for the environment, for the world economy, and for the future of this planet on the whole.